Security forces in Togo fought battles with machete-wielding youths yesterday in violence that has killed at least 20 people since the late ruler's son won a disputed poll.
Violence erupted in the seaside capital Lome minutes after officials said on Tuesday that Faure Gnassingbe, son of Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled the former French colony for nearly four decades until he died in February, had won Sunday's presidential election.
Some 1,200 people have fled to neighbouring Benin and Ghana since violence broke out in several towns following the poll results, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said.
Togo spun into chaos when Mr Eyadema died after 38 years in power, and army leaders named Mr Gnassingbe to replace him, saying they feared a dangerous political vacuum. He eventually stepped down under fierce international pressure and called elections.
Sunday's poll was effectively a referendum on nearly four decades of repressive rule by Mr Eyadema, who led a 1963 coup, declared himself president four years later, and eventually became Africa's longest-serving leader.
As police and protesters clashed in backstreets of Lome, the losing opposition candidate declared himself president and warned his supporters they might have to sacrifice their lives.
"We must fight with our lives if necessary . . . to force the one who believes he has a divine right over our people to listen to reason," Mr Bob Akitani said after claiming the presidency.
But Togo's interim president, Abass Bonfoh, described the "self-proclamation" as fanciful and ordered security forces to detain anyone standing in the way of democracy.